US BLACKLISTS NIGERIA OVER CHILD SOLDIER RECRUITMENT, THREATENS MILITARY AID CUTS

By ‘Balogun Ibrahim

The United States has placed Nigeria on its Child Soldiers Prevention Act (CSPA) blacklist, a move that could lead to restrictions on military training, weapons sales, foreign military financing and other defence cooperation from October 1, 2026, unless President Donald Trump grants a waiver.

The designation followed the US State Department’s 2026 Trafficking in Persons Report, which cited the continued recruitment and use of children by Boko Haram and the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) in Nigeria.

Published on October 11 and obtained by The Media on Monday, the report covers the period from April 1, 2025, to March 31, 2026. It represents the latest US assessment of Nigeria’s efforts to combat human trafficking.

Nigeria was listed among 14 countries accused of recruiting or using child soldiers, alongside Russia, Iran, South Sudan and Somalia.

The report also stated that Nigeria had failed to meet the minimum standards for combating human trafficking for the 15th consecutive year.

According to the document, countries placed on the CSPA list may face restrictions on certain security assistance and commercial licences for military equipment in the following fiscal year.

It explained that the law prohibits assistance to listed governments under programmes covering International Military Education and Training, Foreign Military Financing, Excess Defence Articles and certain Peacekeeping Operations. It also restricts licences for the direct commercial sale of military equipment, subject to applicable exceptions and presidential waivers.

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The report said the decision to include a country on the list was based on multiple sources, including observations by US government personnel and credible information from United Nations agencies, international organisations, non-governmental organisations and local and international media.

The development comes amid ongoing security cooperation between the United States and Nigeria, including joint counterterrorism efforts and the bilateral 2026 Defence Cooperation Roadmap.

The report also raised concerns about alleged official complicity in human trafficking, noting that no government official was reported to have been prosecuted for involvement in trafficking offences during the period under review, despite concerns about corruption.

It stated that the government failed to provide details of investigations, prosecutions or convictions involving public officials allegedly complicit in trafficking crimes.

“Corruption and official complicity in trafficking crimes remained significant concerns,” the report stated, adding that some law enforcement, military and other government officials were accused of committing trafficking offences, accepting bribes to facilitate trafficking or interfering with investigations.

On law enforcement, the report said Nigerian authorities investigated 1,341 trafficking cases, including 589 involving sex trafficking, 301 involving forced labour and 451 classified as unspecified cases. The investigations involved 1,367 suspects.

Of the cases, 94 resulted in prosecutions, while 97 traffickers were convicted.

The US acknowledged that most convicted traffickers received prison sentences of at least one year. It also noted increased collaboration between Nigerian authorities and foreign governments on international trafficking investigations, including operations conducted across West Africa and Southeast Asia in partnership with INTERPOL.

However, the report expressed concern over victim protection, stating that although 2,004 trafficking victims were identified during the period, only 675 received government-supported assistance. The figure represented a decline from 2,058 victims who received assistance in the preceding reporting period.

The identified victims comprised 893 survivors of sex trafficking and 1,111 victims of forced labour.

The report also criticised conditions in shelters operated by the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP), noting that its closed-shelter policy restricted residents’ freedom of movement, including children’s access to school.

It further alleged that access to certain protection services was tied to victims’ willingness to cooperate with law enforcement investigations.

According to the report, adult victims who declined shelter accommodation were not offered alternative services, while only one dedicated non-governmental organisation shelter was available for adult male trafficking survivors.

On child soldier recruitment, the report identified Boko Haram and ISWAP as the armed groups responsible for recruiting, abducting and exploiting children in Nigeria and neighbouring countries.

It said the groups continued to recruit and use children as young as 12 as cooks, domestic workers, spies, porters, messengers, bodyguards, checkpoint guards, armed combatants and suicide bombers.

The report alleged that the children were subjected to physical and sexual abuse, forced drug use and other forms of exploitation.

It also accused the groups of abducting women and girls in northern Nigeria for forced labour, domestic servitude and sexual slavery. Boko Haram was further accused of forcing thousands of women and girls into marriage and punishing some who refused by compelling them to carry out suicide attacks.

The document additionally alleged that some victims of forced marriage were coerced by government authorities into returning to their Boko Haram husbands at demobilisation centres in Borno State.

Beyond the activities of armed groups, the report said criminal gangs in southern Nigeria recruited children for forced criminal activities, including kidnapping and robbery, while exploiting some in sex trafficking. It also reported cases of forced labour in agriculture and mining involving criminal gangs in the North-West.

On labour trafficking, the US criticised Nigeria for failing to prohibit worker-paid recruitment fees, hold labour recruiters accountable for fraudulent recruitment practices and provide specialised training on child labour and human trafficking to labour inspectors.

It also said the government had not provided anti-trafficking training to its diplomatic personnel.

The report highlighted the activities of international criminal networks operating in Nigeria, alleging that foreign syndicates fraudulently recruited people to the country with promises of employment, confined them in rented properties and forced them to participate in organised online scams.

It further alleged that Russian authorities fraudulently recruited Nigerians to fight in the Russia-Ukraine war, while Nigeria’s Ministry of Education helped promote Russia’s Alabuga Start programme despite warning signs.

The report also expressed concern that North Korean nationals working in Nigeria might be operating under exploitative conditions indicative of forced labour.

On so-called baby factories, described as criminal operations disguised as orphanages, maternity homes or religious centres, the report said women were allegedly held against their will, sexually abused and forced to give birth to children who were subsequently sold. Such operations were described as a documented feature of Nigeria’s trafficking landscape, particularly in the southern part of the country.

Despite the concerns, the US acknowledged increased Nigerian government spending on anti-trafficking programmes.

According to the report, funding for victim services increased from N128m to N233m, while spending on prevention rose from N58.8m to N245m.

It also noted that Nigerian authorities coordinated the repatriation of 428 citizens exploited abroad, secured restitution for 14 victims as part of criminal sentences and maintained anti-trafficking task forces in 23 states.

Nigeria, which serves as a source, transit and destination country for human trafficking, last attained Tier 1 status in the US annual Trafficking in Persons Report in 2011. Its ranking has since fluctuated between Tier 1, Tier 2 and the Tier 2 Watch List.

Other countries included on the 2026 CSPA list were Afghanistan, Myanmar, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Iran, Russia, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Venezuela and Yemen.

When contacted for comments, NAPTIP’s Head of Press and Public Relations, Vincent Adekoye, said the agency would make its position on the report public.

The Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, did not respond to calls to his mobile telephone or a text message seeking the Presidency’s reaction.